to wonder why it is important to get to 10cm dilated when babies heads are bigger than that?

[ICBINEG]

Been checking out the red book....

Babies head had a diameter of 12 cm at birth...no wonder I failed miserably to push her out under my own steam!

But the average is larger than 10cm...so why all the fuss about making it to 10cm?

The head expands on the way out, hence the reason babies have soft spots.

Because that's the size of a fully dilated cervix?

Pushing any earlier would damage your cervix and it wouldn't move out of the way of the baby's head?

Not a midwife or anything just my opinion!

The presenting diameter of the baby's head in most orientations is 10cm, which is why we call 10cm fully dilated. In some presentations (face/brow) the presenting diameter is more than 10cm and they either require turning or operative delivery. Babies' heads are purposely squishy to allow them to pass through and will reshape/re-expand after delivery.

10cm means 'cervix fully dilated, no rim of cervical tissue in front of the baby's head'' rather than 'exactly 10cm, whipped out the tape measure for that internal'.

Bizarrely the only one I didn't tear with had the most enormous head and was brow presentation.

For babies 3 4 and 5 ( don't know about 1 or2 had no internals ).
I had the same odd situation each time I would feel like pushing each time the midwife had a feel and said "your only 6cms it's too early to push" but I always just carried on and within 2 -5 minutes the babies were born.

I have no idea why it always goes like that but no one had ever said "hey your 10cms!".

I have always had easy births no tears no stitches and event first was born in no more than 5 actual pushes ( dc 5 I only pushed twice and on the second push her head an body just shot out in one go).

Is it possible to give birth without reaching 10cm or can it just happen very very quickly?

I've often wondered if every single woman's cervix measures exactly the same .... find it really odd that every other part of us is so different and yet we have a one size fits all indicator for pushing a baby out. Surely that can't be right.

My PFB was prem & had a head about the size of an apple!

10cms def not needed!

Still seemed hard work at the time though!

diddl apparently prem babies are much harder to push out as they don't have any weight behind them

Thats the reason my last ds wouldn't come out naturally..his head was and still is enormous!

When I had my 3rd they didn't both examining me, they said 'she's experienced, she knows what to do'! So I ust pushed when I felt like it straight away! .

bother

Needs to be fully dialated so there is no risk of damage to the cervix

5dcs I dont know the answer but I had the same, me feeling intense pushing urge, midwife says youre not ready, stop pushing, and out pops Ds1. Midwife with DS2 trusted my instincts, came into room and delivered him. Easy peasy

The cervix can stretch further than 10cms if needed.

Cos you want it as big as bloody possible! that's why.

okay okay so if 10cm is short hand for cervix out of the way and ready to go then I accept there is a point to it...

I guess I was surprised to realise there was upto 2cm variation in head diameter at birth covering even 'normal sized' babies.

Surely this explains at least some of the vast variation in birthing experience?

Next time someone suggests I should have breathed the baby out I will feel more confident that it really wasn't my fault

I think most difficulties in the pushing stage are to do with the position of the baby/position of mum and exhaustion rather than the size of the baby's head.